Chapter 484 – Lucius and Evangeline Go to Earth (4)
I was sitting on a park bench watching pigeons. Birds on human hands were approaching with quick steps, shaking their heads to see if we were feeding them. My younger brother said, scattering the popcorn he bought at a nearby convenience store on the floor.
“When I was little, there was a movie about a lady who feeds pigeons like this. I saw it and wanted to try it.”
“Ah, I remember what it was.”
Those words seemed to remind me too. At Christmas, we used to huddle in front of the TV and watch specials. At that time, I also thought that there was no need to go to the cinema. It was because if I waited a year, the latest movie would be shown on TV. When mom and dad were indifferent to us, the only thing that cared for us was the TV, which prepared the latest movies every time.
The pigeons gathered and started to peck at the popcorn. My brother smiled and tossed the popcorn up. I slipped her hand into the bag of popcorn she was holding in her hand and ate one.
“Why are you giving it all to pigeons? Let me eat some too.”
I thought it had been a long time since I had eaten popcorn. It was the last time I had a part-time job at a bar. I used to soothe my hunger by putting one or two pieces of popcorn in my mouth as a snack. Now I was scattering popcorn on the floor and watching pigeons peck it.
In a way, this hobby was a very luxurious hobby. Said the brother
“Brother. Do you want to go see our movie?”
“Movie?”
A movie advertisement was playing on the screen on the roof of a building in the distance. It was an advertisement for a popular action movie these days. It was his first time seeing it, but he said that it is a masterpiece that is hot these days and has a lot of series.
“I’ve never been to a movie theater before.”
“Right? Right?”
Her brother was excitedly stamping her feet of her. I made up my mind and got up. Her sister was already excited at the thought of her watching a movie. There were several taxis lined up at the taxi stand in front of the park. Me and my brother took a taxi and said to the cinema.
“I could have gone there by teleportation.”
“Let’s just take a taxi.”
If I went to teleportation, it seemed that my emotions would fade. Said the taxi driver.
“Are you two going to the movies?”
“Yes. Yes.”
“Oh, there are so many other things to see in this town, so come and watch a movie abroad.”
“Because I like to watch movies.”
“Me too.”
Brother intervened. The taxi driver laughed at us. The younger brother looked at the taxi driver’s driver’s license and said.
“Let’s go to the cinema for the first time today.”
“Oh, what happened?”
“The house was poor. So my parents never took me to the cinema.”
“I think I watched more movies in the army.”
I added. The taxi driver blinked at my words and asked:
“Oh, are we foreign bachelor soldiers? Since you speak Korean well, are you from the US Army in Korea?”
“No. It was the Al infantryman of the decisive battle unit. He applied full-time but was rejected. Fucking bastards.”
“Yes?”
The taxi driver seemed to have sounded strange to me. Is it that strange that I went to the army? He tilted his head, then seemed to just nod and understand. Said his brother his.
“The movie will be fun. Right?”
“I know.”
Movie theater signs began to appear. All of the small town movie theaters that were common in the past had become burdensomely large buildings.
The signboard in front of the building was lined with the latest released movies. After getting out of the taxi ahead of me, my younger brother was staring at the billboards with sparkling eyes. To me, this place was no different from a fantasy space, but to her her, it was a place she had come to after thousands of years. I calculated the taxi fare and patted her on the back of her.
“Wow, brother. What do you see? Would you like to see everything here?”
“Will it be that long? Come back later and see What do you want to see?”
“Oh, I can’t choose. Choose my brother He said he watched a lot of movies while in the army.”
The movies I watched in the army were mainly action movies. I pointed to an action movie I had seen on a billboard. A man in sunglasses stood with a shotgun in front of a poster bursting with fireworks. Strong muscles and tough tattoos told the atmosphere of this movie. The younger brother nodded and said.
“It’s gonna be fun.”
We booked tickets right away and entered a fast food restaurant attached to the cinema. We had about 30 minutes left to watch the movie. My brother ordered a Coke and a hamburger, and I ordered a cocoa. Said the brother
“Fun.”
“What is fun? The movie hasn’t even started yet.”
“Waiting is fun. With 30 minutes left, I come in to eat a hamburger, and my brother buys me a hamburger too. It’s just fun.”
She grinned as she said that. I poked her cheek. Her brother her moved a hesitant smile as I poked him. It was like playing with balloons.
[Do you have much fun playing with your child’s face?]
When I was little, my mom used to say that to me. At that time, her mother was drinking over a small table. She laid a large pillow on it like a sofa, and she leaned against it, devouring her snacks her. I did n’t pay any attention to her mother’s behavior her and just poked her sister’s cheeks her.
Even then, her sister was very soft, and she gave me the sensation of kneading rice cakes.
“Hey, do you know what Mandeuk is?”
“What is that?”
Her brother asked her, frowning at her. I said.
“When we were little, it was a toy at home, and there is something that looks like the head of that fruit.”
“Is there such a thing?”
“It reminds me of that because I’m stabbing your cheek.”
“Is that a compliment? Mandeuk, doesn’t that just look weird?”
My brother looked at me suspiciously and asked. I shook my head. The notification bell was quivering. My younger brother was started and tried to get up, but I stopped him and took the food instead. Her brother also seemed to have fun waiting for his burger. She said as she took a mouthful of the hamburger.
“Fun. Fun.”
“It’s all fun. Right?”
“Of course. I go to the cinema and eat hamburgers. Do you know how much I wanted to do this?”
“Know.”
Her brother shut up her. There was no way I did n’t know her feelings of her. Most of the things she was praying for were things I had been praying for all my life. I whipped up the cocoa. I accidentally didn’t order something cold, so hot steam was rising.
“I wanted to do it too. I wanted to play like this every day and live a leisurely life.”
I would have no wish if I slept soundly for just one day. It would be nice if her brother suddenly got up and went to the beach somewhere. I want to chat with my brother all day at home. If I come in late, I want someone to bruise me. I wish I didn’t have to worry about anything when I wake up.
“Sometimes I imagined that. If I close my eyes and open them, you’re awake. ‘Where are you brother? Why are you sleeping here?’ That’s what the doctor says. ‘The disease has miraculously healed. Now you can leave the hospital.’ The two of us then go home hand in hand. Her aunt her cries with joy when she sees you. The three of us all eat together, I quit my part-time job, and you get ready to go to school. It’s the start of an incredibly normal life.”
Incredibly ordinary everyday life. I took a sip of cocoa. The hot steam hitting the roof of her mouth made her face slightly frown. My brother ate the fries. She abruptly looked away from her and smiled broadly.
“Oh, there is a movie trailer. Brother look at that The helicopter just crashed, right? Aren’t you curious?”
I could tell she was turning her back her. I kind of laughed. It was because she was holding the corners of her mouth up as if she was forced to smile. It was evident that he was forced to smile, to the point that he wondered if he was trying to make me laugh. So I laughed.
When my younger brother saw me laughing, he started laughing too. In the middle of a fast food restaurant, we started laughing, showing our white teeth. They shrugged their shoulders and laughed, then took a deep breath while avoiding each other’s gaze. Her brother laughed at her mouth at her and lowered her head. I looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath.
It was because they were so funny to each other. I laughed because it was so funny that I now attach meaning to each of these things. We had to constantly avert our gaze to avoid showing an ugly smile.
People passing by gave us strange glances. I didn’t mind that. He said while wiping his eyes with the napkin that came with the hamburger.
“It’s movie time. Let’s go watch a movie.”
Thirty minutes had already passed. The younger sister snapped the remaining hamburger into her mouth and nodded her head. Her eyes her were shining brightly.
Even when checking tickets and entering the cinema, she always had her eyes shining. I couldn’t stop my heart beating too. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen a movie, but it was the first time I’d been to a movie theater this big. We sat in seats 13 and 14 in row F, staring at the screen. The younger brother said this on a screen that was more spacious than expected.
“I don’t think it will all come in at first glance.”
“You’ll have to focus.”
And the curtain rises. Her first sponsored ad her made her nervous, squinting her eyes to read the characters’ lines. She liked to shake her head slightly in flashy action scenes, and sobbed through tears in typical melodramas.
A beautiful pop song was playing along with the ending credits. People left one by one, and we also sat for a while. Even when the curtains closed and the lights were turned on again, we did not leave our seats. The staff who came in to clean said carefully.
“Hey, the movie is over.”
Then we got up from our seats. My brother held my hand tightly and said.
“It’s really fun.”
“So do I.”
On the way back to the hotel, we decided to buy some snacks for the family to eat. The brother asked.
“How about this? Raw meat.”
“Yukhoe is fine. Let’s buy it.”
We bought plenty of raw meat and called a taxi.
